I've read Little Women so many times, and watched the film (the Susan Sarandon/Claire Danes/Winona Ryder/Cristian Bale/Kirsten Dunst/Gabriel Byrne one) almost as often. In fact, after I've written this I think I will go watch it again. I can never get bored of it, it will never age for me.
It's a story of sisterhood, unbreakable love, unimaginably painful losses and moving on.
There are four March sisters, living in a small house in relative poverty, next to the grand house where Laurie, Jo's childhood friend, is being brought up by his very wealthy, very posh grandfather. There is Jo, Beth, Amy and Meg... I'll introduce you..
Jo March is the tomboyish heroine. A girl lost in a society obsessed with fortunes and posture and pretty dresses and coming out parties. Jo is none of these. She is loyal, she is proud, she is smart. Jo has a boisterous naughty streak to her which she normally comes to regret. She's playful and pretty. Whilst other girls her age are practising their wifely skills to attract suitors, Jo is chasing about like a boy with Laurie. They are inseperable. When she is at home, Jo is found in the attic room writing stories to entertain her sisters. Their childhood is taken up with the sisters enacting Jo's plays, it makes them all happy. The girls grow up through the years and it becomes obvious that Jo is attracting unwanted advances from gentleman whilst attending the social occasions she cannot escape from. Laurie jealously witnesses this, and tries to secure her hand in marriage by rushing to propose to her. Jo is scared and confused. She knows she loves Laurie (or Teddy as she calls him), but she's young, and she isn't one of these girls that has been dreaming of marriage. He has taken her by surprise. And she tries to explain that she does love him dearly but it is too late. Laurie's pride and feelings are hurt and he becomes hostile towards her and disappears back to his house where she can hear him tormentedly playing the piano. She decides she needs to escape, so she leaves to earn money for the family, working as a nanny in New York.
Whilst working, Jo writes many stories and walks them round the publishers, only to be told no one wants to publish "fairystories". Jo is dejected. She falters in her resolve to write what is true to her, and starts to write pirate stories about blood and gore under then pen-name Joseph March, and, go-figure, she gets her stories in the newspapers.
She is working on in this vain when she meets Professor Bhaer (I think he is German not sure). The professor is quite a bit older than Jo and not classically good-looking. Everyone reading the book can understand this meeting is significant. But both Jo and the professor are shy. So they edge closer, her learning from him, him being dazzled by this woman who is like no other. He takes her to the opera, but it is in Italian and she can't understand, so he translates for her. They are sitting so close, they almost kiss then someone clatters something backstage and the moment is lost. The next morning (they board in the same house) he challenges her on why she writes fantasy. He tells her she should be brave and write from the heart. My favourite line of his: "there is nothing in here of the woman I am privileged to know. You can do better than this... If you have the courage to write it". She spikes, I think because she knows what he is saying is true. They argue and she runs back to her room. Angry. Professor Bhaer gets called away. Jo begins her novel. It is about the events I have described above and am about to describe below...
Beth, beautiful, sweet, homely Beth. Beth is pretty much to good for this earth, seeing the absolute best in everyone, if angels could take human form, they would be just like Beth. She is every sisters' confidant. Never judging or taking sides. She takes no interest in boys and parties or quarrels. She is everyone's favourite sister. Beth catches scarlet fever on one of her visits to the poor houses and, whilst very sick, narrowly survives. (Any F.R.I.E.N.D.S. fans reading this, this is where Joey gets to and has to put the book in the freezer because he is scared she's going to die) (lol). But, as Louisa May Alcott narrates to us, no one knew that the scarlett fever had weakened her heart.
Laurie, after months of self destructive self pity, happens across Amy in Europe. Lots of flirting ensues, but back then it would have been 'courting'. Laurie needs to move fast as Amy is expecting a proposal from his friend Fred Vohnn any day soon. A drunken Laurie accuses Amy of pursuing Fred for his money, then comes some of my favourite lines.. Amy: "I have always known I would not marry a pauper", Laurie: "just as I have always known I should be part of the March family", Amy: "I do not wished to be loved for my family", Laurie: "just as Fred Vohnn does not wish to be loved for his 50,000". Raaaaa Laurie. ANYWAY... Laurie marries Amy. And I have never been able to forgive Amy. I know Jo turned Laurie's proposal down, something which in itself threw me. I, along with Laurie, had been convinced that Jo had been made for Laurie and he for her. So how could Amy, who has grown up seeing her sister and Laurie so inseperable, so destined, even start to think he should be with her if not Jo. And I will never understand Laurie and his ability to swap his lifelong love for one sister so easily, so completely, to the other. If I had been Jo I could never have forgiven such a betrayal from a sister and I could never even look at Laurie again. But Jo is a better soul than I am, and, after the initial shock she embrasses Laurie as her brother. But their friendship is broken.
I realise I haven't mentioned Meg. To be honest she bores me. Meg is boring. She even marries a boring man - so boring I can't even remember his name. It might be Eric, but it could just as well be anything else. She never says anything good. She is just tooooo boring. I am secretly pleased when Jo accidentally scorches off some of her hair. That's the most exciting thing that happens to her. I would not mind if a rewrite of Little Women ditched her as a character. The book is too good to waste time on Meg. So I won't either...
Jo recieves a telegram urging her to come home to a very sick Beth. She arrives just in time to speak with Beth once more, before Beth says my favourite (and last) line of hers "I don't mind, I was never like the rest of you, with big plans and leaving home. Why did you all want to leave? I love being home. Now I am the one going forward. I am not scared, I can be brave like you". And with that she's gone. Jo collapses onto her sister, inconsolable. She's already lost Laurie. Now she's lost an even bigger part of her, her Beth.
Jo stays behind to help her mother prepare for the funeral. Amy doesn't even bother coming (waste-of-space sister) (so what if Aunt March is bedridden this is your sister's funeral b*tch). Jo finishes her novel surrounded by the memories of her sisters and lost friendships, then sends it to Professor Bhaer, who shows it to his publisher friends.
Professor Bhaer, lost in New York without Jo, has made the journey to her family home. He loves her. Although in his awkward-bumbly way he has never expressed this to her directly. Jo and the professor have always skirted around their feelings, their eyes betraying their hearts meaning, but neither brave enough to put air and voice to them, to allow them to be heard, and then cherished and secure in the knowledge they feel the same way. So he arrives and speaks to Hannah (the maid) who carelessly tells him Miss March has gone to marry Mr Laurie. (WTF Hannah, you fool, don't you know what he now thinks?!), so the Professor leaves a package for Jo, leaves his congratulations and disappears back out the door heading for the train. (P.s. I now think he's an idiot. He can't be that emotionally blind that he can't know of and feel Jo's absolute love for him, everything she does she does yearning for his acceptance). ANYWAY... Jo bounds through the door, fresh picked wild flowers abundant in her arms and a flush on her face and mud on her boots. Hannah says Mr fox or Mr bear came and Jo freezes with excitement. She opens the package and it is her manuscript. Her Professor Bhaer has got her novel published. Hannah then tells Jo he left after hearing that Miss March and Mr Laurie were getting married. Jo tears out the door chasing her professor down. It is raining now and as she turns into a country lane (you know the tree tunnel ones) she see him in the distance. She yells at him in her "ladylike" way and he stop. Slowly turns round. She races to him. They stand there in the rain, under his umbrella whilst they clear up the confusion that it's her sister getting married not her. Then it's time for my favouritest line in the book... The Professor: "But I have nothing to offer (i.e. He is poor), my
hands are empty". Jo takes his hands in hers, and says "they're not now".
Oh I love love love this book. It's only in that last line that I get why she turned Laurie down even though she loved him so. She was never his. She is, and always was, Fredrick's (Professor Bhaer).
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